Echoes
by DracoWinchester7237
Summary: Thomas will do anything to save Newt, Scott will do anything to save Stiles, Lydia doesn't know who the hell Thoms is, and Mihno is just trying to survive the maze, again. This part one of a series. part two is up! called Repercussions! if you liked this story it continues there! I hope you all read it!
1. trust me

_Thomas things are going to get really bad for you. You have to trust me._

 _Things are going to get really bad for you. You have to trust me._

 _You have to trust me._

 _Trust me._

The words bounced around his head in her voice. The last thing she said to him and it made him physically sick. They got louder and louder the more his situation truly sunk in. He was alone. After everything they had done, everything he'd gone through to make sure his friends were safe, He was right back where he'd started, leaving him wishing he would have pushed the damn button when he had the chance, killing them all in one easy explosion. It would have been better than this.

His room was blinding, the walls, the floors, even his clothes were stark white. He'd been thrown in this room hours ago. Nobody told him why nobody even looked at him. Thomas had walked around the room feeling the walls for any sign of an escape route, but even the door had no handle. When he finally gave up he sank to the floor and curled around himself. There was no way he could tell how much time passed, even if he was certain it had been almost a day there was no confirming or denying it. He knew there had to be more to this unless they wanted to starve him to death. Which made the whole mess of his life seem pretty worthless. He tried a couple times to count the seconds but eventually, his mind would wander and he'd lose track and mess up the entire system. There was nothing for him to do but think.

He had no idea where his friends were. Thomas knew they got Minho, he saw them knock him out shortly before they got him. He didn't see if newt got away though and that was the part that worried him. Minho was strong and determined. He spent every day alone in the maze for years before Thomas started to run with him. If anyone could handle this it was him. No, Thomas found himself more worried about newt. Newt who always looked after everyone else but never cares enough to look out for himself. Newt alone scared the shit out of Thomas, the last time he was alone, Thomas almost lost him before he even knew him.

Thomas lost track of how long he'd been sitting there, drowned in thoughts of Minho and Newt and everyone else he'd failed. He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't move when the door across from him opened. He only looked up when he could hear a voice above him.

"Thomas! So glad you're here, I thought you and I could have a little chat." rage filled Thomas and before he could think logically he threw himself at the other man who stood there looking as smug as ever. He could feel the crunch of bones beneath his fist when it connected with Jansons' nose. He pulled his fist back to hit him again but before he could land it more men came through the door and grabbed Thomas by his arms and pulled him backward.

"You're really going to wish you hadn't done that." Janson spit, staining the perfectly white floor with blood. Thomas continued to glare at the older man. Thomas didn't say anything and he didn't fight the men holding him, he knew there'd be no point even though the still open door did tempt him. "As I was saying, Tomorrow starts the third trial. I have a feeling you are not going to like this one." Janson nodded to one of the men holding him back. He felt the all too familiar sting of a needle in the back of his neck and grunted from the pain of it. Whatever they were injecting him with burned like fire. It also worked fast making his eyelids instantly heavy.

"Enjoy your night Thomas, Things are going to get really bad for you but remember, WICKED is good" Thomas flinched at the words that sounded just like her. The warning she gave him. He sagged against one of the men holding him. His vision blurred gray and he fought to stay awake but in the end, it was useless. He was out before the guards dropped him on the floor.

Everything was dark, but it was more than that. This was the kind of inky blackness that your eyes never adjusted to, it almost felt alive, like it was pulsating around him, pushing in on him from every angle and then retreating backward. Like living shadows. He pushed himself up and slowly turned taking in the void he'd woken up in.

"Tommy," Thomas whirled around, searching for the face that belonged to the voice he knew so well. "Tommy" he turned again, slower, searching but he still couldn't see the boy calling for him with a name only he used.

"Newt!" he yelled into the blackness.

"Tommy help me!" Newts voice ripped through the space around him loud enough to have Thomas flinching backward, the words of his friend reverberating in his ears.

"Where are you?" he gasped trying to suck air into his lungs in an attempt to keep the panic at bay.

"Tommy." newts voice was getting quieter.

"Where are you!" Thomas yelled as loud as he could but the space around him only swallowed his words.

"Tommy."Newts voice was barely audible now but Thomas could still hear the sadness behind it. He sank back to the floor, tears threatening to spill over.

"Where are you." he cried into his hands.

"Please. Tommy please." the voice was louder this time but Thomas feared how broken it sounded.

"Please what? Newt what can I do?" he whispered into his hands.

"Find me." Thomas's head snapped up and he forced himself to stand on shaking knees. There was still nothing but blackness around him, regardless Thomas began to run, he couldn't see anything in front of him but still, he ran. He called out for Newt but he stopped responding and Thomas tried not to think about the fear eating away at him.

 _Find me, Thomas, Find me._ But that wasn't Newt. it was hers and it was in his head. He clamped his hands over his ears and screamed.

Thomas knew before he opened his eyes that something was different. For one, he was put in a chair while he was passed out. His legs and arms were tied down, he could feel whatever they used to tie him cutting into his skin. Thomas knew this wasn't going to be good.

"Welcome to the Third Trial, this is phase one." Thomas opened his eyes to glare at Janson, but he wasn't there. It was just his voice. He looked around for a speaker system but just saw his same room from the day before, Jansons blood and all, the only difference being the shuck chair he was tied to.

Thomas stopped looking around when he heard a quiet noise, like gears being turned, he looked back in front of him and realized the wall was actually moving, revealing a window into another room exactly like his, complete with a chair in the middle, facing him. Thomas had a very bad feeling deep in his stomach.

He saw someone curled in on themselves and Thomas knew who it was, without even seeing his face he knew. He pulled violently on his restraints wanting desperately to go to him, to hug him and tell him everything was okay, to get him out of this hell.

"Now Thomas, it's important you pay attention over the next few days, it'll help you in later phases of this trial. Oh and remember when you hit me?" cold sweat broke out all over Thomas and he listened to the silence stretching on after Jansons voice cut out.

In the room in front of him, he could see the doors fly open and the boy in the corner looked up, Thomas couldn't bear the fear in those eyes. The boy jumped up and tried to get away from the men running towards him, but before he could get very far one of the men punched him square in the nose. "I did say you would regret that didn't I?"

"No" Thomas shouted pulling against his restraints again. Not caring that he could feel the ropes digging into his wrists. Thomas could feel the tears threatening to spill over as newt continued to be kicked in the stomach and ribs. The worst part of watching it happen was that newt didn't fight back. Thomas wanted to scream at him to get up to fight back. One of the men pulled newt by his arm into the chair in front of Thomas.

"Where's Tommy?" newt rasped while they tied him down to the chair. Thomas felt sick. Nobody answered him as they finished off tying newt down and left. Newt could hardly sit up straight on his own, his nose was bleeding horribly and Thomas's heart ached.

Thomas knew he didn't like where this was headed. Newts door opened again and Thomas tore his gaze away from newt long enough to see who was there. He didn't know what he expected, nothing good, but what never crossed his mind was Teresa standing in the doorway of newts room. Seeing her felt like a gunshot through his heart.

 _Trust me. Trust me. Trust me._ Her voice filled his head again. Thomas looks away.

Thomas watched her making her way towards newt who looked shocked, and almost hopeful.

"Teresa, what are you doing here? You've got to get out of here" he said trying to look at her. "Is Tommy here? Did they get him to? If they did you have to get him out of here." newt was pleading with her and Thomas was crying because he knew, he just knew this wasn't going to end well. Thomas was screaming at her to leave him alone, not only out loud but in his head too. Trying to make the connection, trying to beg her not to touch newt.

"Hush now newt its okay, its all going to be okay." she smiled at Newt and it was that same smile she used to give him, it was a smile that meant something horrible was about to happen.

 _Teresa don't! He screamed so loud he could feel the connection being made and he could feel her flinch away from his voice. But it wasn't enough. She slid something out of her sleeve and brought it down on newts bad leg._

"WICKED is good newt" newts eyes went wide. And then he started to scream and Thomas screamed with him. He screamed as loud as he could part of himself trying to drown out the sound of his best friend in pain. The other part of anger at the girl who sat there and smiled at them.

She screamed. She could hear others screaming in her head, boys. She could hear the pain in their screams and so she screamed with them. The sound of the three of them mixing together and ringing in her ears.


	2. for tommy

Newt hurt. He couldn't pinpoint exactly where it was that he hurt. His entire body radiated pain. He sat in his normal corner trying to think about anything but the pain, which was hard seeing as his whole body hurt. Newt sighed and dropped his head into his hands. His thoughts found their way, as they often did in this colorless room, to Tommy. Newt didn't know if it hurt more to think about him or to focus on the pain.

He didn't know where Thomas was, he only hoped he got far away from WICKED. And wasn't planning on doing anything stupid, like trying to come and rescue him. Which, if newt knew Thomas, was exactly what he was doing right about now. Thomas was never one to leave someone behind. That boy was loyal to a fault. Even when he needed to give up. Nothing he could do would save newt now.

It had been a little over a week since Teresa had injected him with the flare. Sometimes newt could feel it working away at his brain, most of the time he could feel it actually. No point in lying to himself now. As if sentencing him to death wasn't enough, they sent people in to test him. At least that what they said they were doing, it felt more like torture. They carved the infected flesh off of him, not bothering to waste any kind of pain reliever on him. They infused him with various test cures all of which burned like fire and dropped him into the land of nightmares. And those were the good days. The bad days, well, those had more to do with his mind than his body. The bad days were when he wished for the peace of death. Those were the days he wished Tommy would find him.

"Good morning." Newt looked up slowly at the door where Janson stood, grinning in a way that told Newt this was going to be one of those bad days.

"Today is your lucky day. I've come to make a deal." Newt stared at the man, confusion clear on his face. WICKED wasn't the type of corporation to make deals. "We need you to tell us where your good friend Thomas might be and what he's planning." a giddy sense of hope engulfed Newt before he could think better of it. A smile broke out across his face for the first time since they'd met the right arm. Tommy was giving them trouble. They hadn't found Tommy yet. He wanted to shout with joy, to celebrate his friend's triumphs but he just sat there grinning.

"I bet you'd want to know. It's too bad I ain't gonna tell you isn't it?" the smile fell off of Jansons' face, replaced with a look that even through News sudden hope, sent chills of fear shooting down his spine like he'd been struck by lightning.

"Think this over very carefully Newt. you have the flare. There is no cure. You are dying and we're offering a peaceful death. You may live out the rest of your days however you wish and we will give you whatever you need. All we ask is you tell us what you know of Thomas's plans." a new sense of determination fueled newt.

"And I already told you, you can shove your deal right up your shank arse." it felt good to say the words he'd been thinking without caring about the outcome. Nothing would change newts fate. No amount of pain would change his mind.

"We're offering you some peace. We just want one thing and all of this can be over."

"It's going to take a lot longer than a week if you want to break me ain't it?" Newt stood up and crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the wall behind him.

"We don't want to have to break you Newt. We just need one small thing and you'll be free to go." Newt thought for a minute and glanced at the char in between him and the rat-faced man. He knew what it meant to say no. he knew it would hurt, but what's a little pain to keep his Tommy safe? "Do you know anything, Newt?" He looked back up meeting the man's gaze evenly and smiled again.

"I already told ya I'm not telling ya so why don't we get on with this." Newt pushed himself off the wall and walked, or rather limped, over to the chair in the center of the room. He knew he'd do anything for Tommy but willingly putting himself in that chair took a toll on his confidence. He knew it wasn't long now and he was utterly terrified.

"Do you honestly think," Janson started tying Newts arms and legs down, "that if he were in your position he'd do the same thing you're doing?" no.

"I don't bloody care" Newt screwed his eyes closed.

"Thomas is the one who put you in the maze in the first place. You really think, once he gets his memories back he wouldn't do it again?" he could feel his heart beating harder. For Tommy for Tommy for Tommy for Tommy. He chanted in his head forcing himself to breathe evenly as the panic started to grow in the pit of his stomach.

"Still don't care" you deserve this the thought caught newt by surprise and his eyes snapped open.

"Just tell us where he's hiding." he felt Janson put something sticky on both sides of his head and he didn't fight it.

"Not gonna bloody happen." Newt stared forward, a sickly calm washed over him. He could hear movement behind him but didn't even try to turn and look, instead, he closed his eyes again trying to prepare himself for the worst.

'Newt please reconsider." he was surprised when it wasn't Jansons voice he heard, but Teresa's. He opened his eyes to look at her. He was overwhelmed with hatred. He hated her but even more than that he hated himself for trusting her. He hated himself for letting this girl anywhere near Tommy. He hated himself for feeling so afraid of her. He hated himself for needing to be saved, again. His hate overwhelmed him and he wanted to throw himself at this girl. To punch her or kick her, he wanted to hurt her as much as he hurt. He wanted to tear her apart. The thoughts horrified him, although she deserved all of it, this violence wasn't him.

"Go to hell," he said shakily.

"It's getting worse isn't it?" she asked him and her voice was so full of sympathy, her eyes so full of pity." the hatred grew like an ugly monster waiting to rip itself out of him. He needed to regain control of himself. He needed this to stop. He was more afraid of the virus than whatever else they were going to do to him.

"Do whatever you're gonna bloody do," he yelled at her.

"You know he wants to hurt you Newt, just please don't make him.' she sounded like she was close to tears but newt didn't care.

"Then bloody hurt me then," he shouted again. Before Teresa could say anything else, electricity suddenly flooded his brain. The agony only lasted a minute, maybe two before he passed out from the pain. As he drifted into a darkness he felt like he was missing something. Like he heard something before he lost consciousness and it was important for him to remember what. Like there was someone calling for him, someone shouting his name so loud he should have heard it. Newt couldn't focus, focusing hurt too much he just wanted to sleep. He wanted to sleep forever. He heard his name being shouted again and he wanted to tell Tommy to just let him sleep but he couldn't find the words. He still felt like he was missing something huge but the numb was just too tempting. He stopped fighting it and let himself sink into the black.


	3. For Newt

The skin around Thomas' wrists were rubbed raw. He stared at the bloody rope burned areas for hours in the corner of his room. He stared at them and cried. He could still hear Newts screams in his head. The sound had become something permanently scarred into his ears. 10 days. Ten days of listening to newts screams, of watching him tortured. Of seeing the black veins snaking up his body getting closer to his heart. Getting closer to killing him. Thomas cried harder, his whole body shaking with the sobs.

The events of the last hour still didn't make any sense to thomas. Newt didn't know anything so why wouldn't he just tell janson that? Or make something up? He could be left alone for awhile, at least long enough to find a cure. Thomas sat up a little straighter. He needed to find a cure. He could do that, he was supposed to be really smart wasn't he? They needed him, it was clear they need him so what if he just stopped resisting? Thomas wouldn't let himself feel hope. Under no circumstances would he allow himself to be hopeful but for the next few hours he did think up a plan. And now all he had to do was wait.

Janson didn't make an appearance that day nor did he for the next week. Thomas continued to spend hours a day tied to his chair with blood soaked ropes, which didn't stop him moving and screaming. He would scream unil Newt could hear him, but newt was different. He seemed almost willing to take everything they threw at him, almost like he wanted it. The conversation about thomas had only come up twice and both times newt refused to give up any information but also made it sound like he had information to give. But thomas knew sooner or later janson would show up, he could only hope it would be sooner.

Sure enough after a particularly cruel day full of newts screams, again, Jason himself showed up to cut the ropes away from thomases bloody wrists.

"We'll have to get you new ropes." he said sounding mildly disgusted.

"That won't be necessary" Thomas said hoarsely.

"And whys that?" Janson asked standing to look down at thomas.

"WICKED is good?" Thomas tried looking up at the man

"Now thomas you don't expect me to believe anything you say do you."

"Of course not. But i want to make a deal." that seemed to get jansons attention.

"What makes you think we'd be content to make a deal with you thomas you're the reason we're all in this situation to begin with." thomas tried to ignore the guilt stabbing him in the heart.

"I will do whatever it takes to get the cure. As long as the torture on newt stops, and when we find it he's the first person to get it." thomas hated himself more than he ever remember hating anything.

"I will take your deal to miss Paige. I'll let you know what she has to say." Jansen said condescendingly. Like thomas didn't understand the way things worked around here.

"I'd like to talk to her myself."

"Well see." and just like that he was gone, leaving thomas half untied and feeling like dirt.

"For Newt." he breathed picking at the ropes around his feet. "I'm only doing this for newt." he had to force himself into sleeping that night. From what little he remembered about working with WICKED was that he was paige's favorite, and if he remembered right shed jump at the chance to work with him again. Shed trust him because she had to. She'd do whatever it took to find a cure. That's something else he remembered, the cure could only be made from immunes blood. The list of immunes was very short the only names he remembered was george, who'd died in the maze long before thomas had been sent there, alby, who also died in the glade at the hands of WICKED, chuck, which hurt thomas to even think about, and himself. He knew there had to be more but those were the ones from his group. And he was offering himself up on a silver platter.

He sat in a different room staring at Ava Paige across the table, neither of them saying anything for a long time. Thomas met her gaze evenly, not looking away

"You understand what we're talking about here, we want total cooperation and commitment."

"I understand, but how do i know you keep up your end of the deal? The torture of my friends stops and the first person who gets the cure when we figure it out is Newt, and any other kids from any other mazes if you've infected them." Thomas felt like he was selling his soul to the devil, but he didn't care, as long as it kept newt safe.

"We are scientists, not liars. Your terms will be met and you can give newt the cure yourself. If it's not to late for him." thomas stood up violently, slamming his hands on the table.

"No. If Newt dies im taking it all down." he yelled at the woman in front of him.

"We will do everything necessary to keep him in a stable condition until we find a cure." Thomas nodded and sat back down

"Alright." he said eventually.

"Very well. Janson, take thomas to his new room."

"Wait." everyone looked at thomas. "One more thing, call it a gesture of good faith." ava and janson exchanged a glance that thomas couldn't read before she motioned for thomas to continue. "I want to stay in my room and i want to be able to see into newts." he said this slowly as if letting his words sink in. "that way i can be sure you're keeping up your word."

"This deal only works if there's trust on both sides thomas. You'll see newt occasionally but i don't want anything to distract you from your work." her tone had a finality to it and thomas wanted to cry. "Janson make sure you get his wrists looked at." she said in dismissal and left them to her orders.

Thomas followed behind janson, anxiety eating away at his insides. His feet felt heavy but he forced on foot in front of the other until they rounded a corner into a little room with a cot in the corner and a sink on the opposite wall with various medical equipment spread out on the counter tops.

"Thomas!" before he could react arms had wrapped around his neck and he had a face full of curly brown hair that smelled like coconuts. He pulled teresa's arms away from his neck and held her at arm's length. She was acting like the past month of her torturing his best friend and the month before that when she'd betrayed him, had never happened in the first place. He dropped his hold on her arms not wanting to touch her and took a step back.

"Thomas has agreed to help us, his arms are in bad shape they need to be dressed and then taken to his room, across from yours, i believe you have the key card. You have some catching up to do, i'll leave you to it." thomas caught jansons arm before he could leave, ignoring the warning look in the other man's eyes at the touch.

"Don't leave me with her." he said through gritted teeth.

"Sorry thomas." he said, his voice soaked with venomous sarcasm as he pried thomases hand off of his arm. "But i have my orders and now so do you, remember who pays the price for your disobedience." and with that Janson was gone and thomas could feel teresa's eyes on the back of his head.

The silence could be cut with a knife as she wrapped his wrists up expertly. He hated every second of it.

"I'm sorry thomas, but i did what i had to." he snorted dryly before lapsing back into silence. She tried a few more times to strike up conversation with him while she finished up with his bandages and walked him to their rooms which was very close to the little med room they were just in.

"Here we are." she said in the fake cheerful tone shed taken on when it became clear to her thomas wasn't going to answer. He walked into the open door without even glancing at her. The door closed with a soft thud behind him and he took in his new room. It was much smaller than his last room, almost half the size, maybe even less than that. A bunk bed against one wall and thomas couldn't help but wish he had one of his friends to share it with. And then a desk and chair sat on the opposite wall with barely enough room for thomas to walk in between the bed and desk. On the other side of the room there was another door and upon further inspection it lead to a very simple bathroom with a stand alone sink, toilet, and the smallest shower stall he'd ever seen. He closed the door back and sa heavily in the desk chair. The desk was bare save for a small laptop that sat in the corner. There was a drawer on one side of him which he opened to find a few broken pencils and a notebook. He pulled it out and flipped it open to the first page. He could see indents in the page as if someone had been writing hard and tore out the page. He closed the book again and threw it back in its place.

Thomas decided to get some sleep, or at least try, he was sure they'd come for him when he was needed. Until then it was either sit in a chair and stare at the wall or stare at the ceiling in his bed. He stood in the center of the room and eyed the almost comfortable looking mattress. Could he really accept such comfort when he knew his friend still slept on the floor? He pulled the thin blanket off the bed and curled up in the back corner glaring at the bed as though it had insulted him with its very existence.

It was hard not to think about how he'd betrayed his friends when he had nothing but silence to greet him. This wasn't like the white room with its vast nothingness. This tiny room made thomas feel positively claustrophobic.

The next morning met thomas was still staring at the wall, silent tears rolling down his face untouched. A kock on his door stirred him to wipe at his face and stand up. When nothing happened he called out a hesitant 'come in' to which the door opened revealing a tired looking ava paige.

"Oh honestly thomas you should have slept, we have work to do." thomas followed her without a second thought. His heart pounded as he wondered what they'd have him do, expecting the worst, he was surprised when she handed him an ID card, he took it carefully as though any second it would explode in his hands. They continued to walk through hallways making so many turns that he suddenly felt grateful for having to memorize the turns of the maze, it made them feel simple in comparison. They stopped in front of a large double door.

"Use your card thomas." she said, not entirely patient. He fumbled with it before sliding it through the keypad, almost surprised when the little red light turned green and the doors slid open to reveal a very empty looking science lab. With a stab of pain he realized the only other person working in the room was teresa. When he made the deal he didn't imagine he'd actually have to work with her.

"For newt." he said not bothering to keep the words quiet. He squared his shoulders and dove in, impatient to find a cure, to save his best friends life no matter what it took.

She could feel a sense of dread walking into the science lab. The chemicals smelled stronger then usual and her heart was beating really fast. She could almost hear someone whispering. But she couldn't make out the words, whatever it was it was better than the screams haunting her for weeks on end.


	4. Alby, Chuck, Winston

"Alby, Chuck, Winston." Newt took a shaky breath. "Alby, Chuck, Winston." he let his head fell into his hands and he forced himself to breathe in, Alby, hold it, chuck, out Winston. He repeated this over and over again until his lungs could work on their own. When he pulled his head away from his hands he could see the sickly black veins peeking out under his sleeve, he knew if he lifted his shirt he'd be covered in them, creeping their way up to his heart.

Newt could feel his mind deteriorating, he could literally feel the disease eating away at his brain. He got to his feet and started to pace. His memory was fading so rapidly he felt like he was getting ready to wake up in the glade again. He'd been mostly left alone for a couple of days now, the only time his door opened was for a tray of food. It worried and even scared him that no one had deemed it necessary to torture him anymore. Had they found Tommy? Was he okay? Was he hurt? Did they fill him with this virus? Was he losing himself like Newt was? Or maybe he had just given up, Newt had no idea how long he'd been inside this hell. Maybe longer than he'd thought. Maybe so long Thomas felt no need to save him. Was Thomas like that, though? Newt couldn't remember. He sighed and slid down the wall burying his head in his arms.

Newt was pulled out of his thoughts when a tray of food was sat down in front of him.

"You need to eat Newt, even if you're not hungry, the flare will work faster if you don't try to keep up your strength." Newt glared at the girl in front of him, the girl that started all his problems, the girl who sentenced him to die. The girl that Newt wanted to kill. The girl Newt hated. Newt dug his fingernails into the skin of his palms, not stopping until he could feel blood seeping through his fingers. He found the only way to keep his mind his own was either by listing the names of the people he's lost or through the pain. He never dropped eye contact with her though.

"I brought you something," she said as if she didn't notice how badly he wanted her to leave.

"I don't want anything from you," he said slowly through gritted teeth, pulling his arms tighter around himself.

"I have another patient, a little girl, she's been infected for 3 months and we're making progress thanks to you and your friends." Teressa ignored him and kept talking. "She said it helped to write down everything she could remember, it might work for you too." she placed a notebook and pen next to the tray of food. "Use it or don't." she turned to leave but hesitated in the doorway. "I can't take back what I did to you, I wouldn't even if I somehow could, but you need to know everything we did, it has a purpose." a chuckle bubbled up I the back of Newts throat at the words that tumbled out of Teressa's mouth.

"WICKED is good, yeah?" he continued to laugh at the thought. "WICKED is so good they kidnap bloody children to torture and kill." her face looked sad, crushed even, but she left after that, left newt back to his disintegrating thoughts and a full plate of untouched food.

A nameless guard dropped his food off for the next three agonizing days. On the third day, he sat in the same spot he always did with the black leather notebook in front of him. His memories were fading fast and he wanted so desperately to hold onto them for as long as possible. Newt picked the book up gently as if it were a bomb that would go off any second. He sat it in his lap and gently lifted the front cover. Newt stared at the blank page that greeted him for a long time before putting his pen to the paper.

 _Tommy,_

 _It's scary losing your memory. I mean yeah we all went through it when we came up in the glade but this is different. With this I can bloody feel my memories slipping away, I've forgotten a lot, but I bloody well remember the day you showed up in the glade changing all our wretched lives. You were just a shuck greenie back then. But even then you were braver than I could ever hope to be. I bet if you were in my situation right now, you would be holding strong, unlike me. I'm barely holding it together. Shuck, who am I kidding I'm fucking dying Tommy. I'm dying, and I'm going to die without ever seeing your stupid shuck face again._

 _I'm not afraid of dying, honestly, life hasn't been that great in the first place. I guess in a roundabout way I'm getting what I wanted a year ago in the bloody maze. I'm not going to waste my time boohooing over shit that ain't ever gonna change._

Newt closed the book forcefully and threw it across the room.

"Alby, chuck, Winston." He breathed, clenching his shaking hands into fists. He just had to hold on a little longer. Longer until what? There was nothing coming. Newt curled up on his side and squeezed his eyes shut, ignoring the tear that managed to escape and roll down his face, reminding him of his weakness. "Alby, Chuck, Winston." Newt whimpered the names struggling to hold onto the people he'd once called his family.

 _Tommy,_

 _I say their names, to remember what we've all been through, to remember why we were fighting. Alby, who was our leader, my best friend even, he was killed in the maze, by a griever (i think?) Winston was a keeper, I remember he was one of the stupid shucks who wanted to banish you for going into the maze. I don't remember what he was a keeper of though. Did we lose him in the maze too? Was it during the changing? Did he get stung? And poor little Chuckie, he was the youngest greenie we've ever had, I was even a year (two?) older when I got sent up. Chuck didn't have much luck since the beginning, he used to cry every night and none of us stupid shuck faces ever tried to comfort him. You did though. You were always better than us Tommy._

Newt ate the next day. He ate just enough to keep himself alive but he was scared of giving himself too much strength. Right now he was weak and he couldn't hurt anyone all he did anymore was write in the stupid notebook. It had been a few days since he started writing (five maybe) before he crumbled into a sobbing mess. The pain he had almost gotten used to, doubled in intensity. He woke up screaming from it and he continued to scream until he was reduced to quiet sobs shaking his entire body.

"Alby, Chuck," he whispered trying to think of the third name he had to remember. He wanted to reach out to look back in his little book to see if maybe he'd written it there but he couldn't force his limbs to move. "Alby, Chuck." his voice broke and he laid there crying, unable to fall asleep and unable to move for hours all the while whispering the names. Trying to force his brain to remember the faces attached to them. At some point, Newts thoughts drifted more towards Tommy, and he could feel his heart crumbling because he really was ever going to see that shucking reckless shank ever again was he?

 _Tommy,_

 _Why did you have to come up in the shuck glade Thomas? Why did you have to break all of our bloody rules? Why did you have to be the god damned bloody hero? Why? We followed you, I knew since you ran back into the bloody maze the first time id follow your stupid shank arse anywhere and I did. But Tommy, why did you have to leave me here? Why did you have to let me get taken, to get tortured and then just left alone completely? You made me a promise. You made me a promise and you bloody broke it. I wish I'd never met you because then I wouldn't know how it feels to miss you._

Newt didn't think he'd survive another day of this. Everything in him was screaming, his hand shook too much to write, his head hurt too much to see, all he could do was lie there. Maybe this was it. Maybe this was him turning into a full-blown crank. Maybe, just maybe, somebody would come and put him out of his misery. The thought comforted Newt but there was one more thing he had to say before that could happen. Newt had to practically drag himself to the other side of the room where he'd left his notebook. He flipped to the next empty page. "Alby," he said trying to relax so his hand would stop shaking, weren't there more names though? "Alby, ch-" no, that didn't sound right. "Alby." he settled on trying to pull the face out of his memories. He could just about manage it before it slipped away altogether, replaced by Tommy's face. Newt held the pen tighter in his shaking hand and tears dripped down his face and raining onto the page.

 _Tommy. I don't even remember what that stands for anymore. If you're alive, and if you find this before you find me, I have something to tell you. But first, you have to promise me something. Promise me that if you find me as a crank, you'll put a bloody bullet between my eyes. I know you think you can be a bloody hero 'cause that's just the shank greenie you are, I think, but please for me, don't. Kill me, Tommy. Kill me and know that it's what I want. Please, Tommy….._

 _Please._

 _I forgot what I needed to tell you. It was something important. Something really really big. I can't find the words. I think I'll just settle on thank you._

 _Thank you for being my friend._


	5. WICKED

Thomas wasn't allowed to see Newt. he had no way of knowing if they were hurting him. no way of knowing if he was even still alive. the only thing keeping him going was a huge if., If he was still alive Thomas had to find a cure, to keep him that way. if he was being hurt still then Thomas still had to find the cure, but he also had a few people he'd like to kill, killing wasn't something Thomas had much experience in, but he knew if it came to Newt he could do anything, it's not like he had to actually like the person he turned into. it wouldn't matter as long as Newt was alive and well.

It wasn't just Newt, he wasn't allowed to see any of his friends, and he wasn't allowed to know what their trials were. They did promise nobody was being hurt but he didn't trust them for shit. No, the only thing Thomas could do, was his work. find a cure, give the cure to Newt and the rest of his friends if they needed it, and get them all out of this place.

Planning wasn't exactly a specialty of his but he'd been working on a plan for about a month now, or was it a few weeks? Thomas couldn't be sure, there were no windows anywhere in the compound, he'd grown used to thinking they were probably just underground somewhere. regardless he'd been working on a plan, which was hard when he was alone, and he didn't know how to get to his friends because they were in a locked wing of the compound, and he hadn't exactly found any exits anywhere, and there was the whole most likely underground aspect of it all. but Thomas was determined, so he collected bits of information and wrote it down on pages he'd tear out of his notebook and stash in the mattress above him.

He also had to try to come up with a cure at the same time. Their last attempt had failed, horribly. he and Teresa had come up with the idea, something they hadn't tried before, but of course, it had turned into a complete failure. they injected it into one of the almost-cranks that they kept in cages around the lab and for a while, it looked as though it was working. the subject had come back to himself enough to tell us his name and a little about himself, his old life, how he got infected, but it didn't stay that way. in fact, dying because of the cure seemed worse than actually turning into a crank. what's worse was he and Teresa was forced to watch the whole thing happen. the screams alone were enough to ensure that Thomas wouldn't sleep peacefully probably ever again. Not that good sleep was something Thomas could see in his future in the first place.

Thomas forcefully exhaled and stood from his desk in his room so suddenly that he ended up knocking his chair backward, he didn't bother picking it up before exiting his room. there were a few ideas he'd wanted to try in the lab and he wasn't so good at working on paper. he needed to actually be doing something.

The walk to the Lab was easy and familiar and Thomas wondered if he'd made this walk before his memories were taken from him, perhaps this was the same compound as before.

The lab was empty and Thomas tried not to be disappointed. it had grown easy to work side by side with Tressa, she was very smart and it made things easier to have someone to bounce ideas off of.

I'm in the lab. he thought in a way he knew she'd hear him.

I'll be right there. he heard her voice in his head, he hated talking with her this way and they almost never used it, just when they weren't with each other when one of them had an idea. Thomas made his way around the room, gathering the things he thought he might need and gently dropping them at his normal workspace. He picked up the syringe first and stabbed it into his arm with ease. which was strange because he'd never really done this before. he started to draw his own blood, making sure to get enough for two or three tries. It was while he was putting a band-aid on when Teressa walked through the door.

"What's this idea of yours tom?' she asked in her usual perky manner, plopping down onto the stool next to Thomas who tried not to tense up when she used that nickname.

"I was on the list, we've used other immunes blood before in test cures, from the other three groups, but we event once used mine. and I was the only surviving immune from our maze." she looked at him, listening intently and watching him working with his blood and the few other things he had in front of him.

"I'm immune too," she said suddenly.

"You weren't on the list. So this is what I was thinking, what if some of us are more immune than others? What if there were a few people in each group that were thought to be, I don't know, more immune? or fully immune? Or something? I'm really just grasping at straws, I need to find this cure Teressa, I have too." he hadn't realized his hands were shaking until Teressa grabbed them in both of hers.

"Tom, relax," she said squeezing his hands and turning him to face her.

"I can't relax until I find this cure, I just can't. I have to save him." he didn't dare think about their skin touching.

"I know you do, and you will, I promise you will tom, you'll see the bigger picture soon, I just know you will, you'll see that WICKED is good and that they can help you save everyone." the phrase made his stomach turn sour and he yanked his hands away from her. he wanted to flee, to retreat to his room and bury his head in his pillow until he'd cried every tear in his system. Instead, he turned back towards his microscope and peered at what his new cure was doing to the flare virus.

"Tom I'm sorry, I'm not trying to push you,"

"Teressa shut up," Thomas said, his voice catching in his throat.

"No, listen to me tom I'm sorry! Everything I've done I've done it for,"

"No seriously stop talking." he said pulling away from the microscope. "look," he said moving out of her way to let her.

"Holy shit tom." she breathed as she took in what he'd done. "its, is not slowing it down, its."

"Killing it." he finished before she could.

"We need to write down exactly what you did," she said still peering into the eyepiece, but Thomas was already scribbling the steps he took and the ingredients he used down.

"We've got to tell Ava," he said, turning to press the call button that was placed on her desk across the room.

"Wait for tom," Teressa grabbed his arm before he could get more than a step away. "If it's your blood if you're the cure," she didn't finish but Thomas could feel the fear rolling off of her without even turning to look at her.

"I know." he whispered "I know," he said louder, more determined, pulling away from her and pushing the button before Teressa could try to stop him again.

"Thomas what if it's only your blood," she said from behind him. anger rushed through him and he turned on her.

"So what?" he yelled, walking towards her. "its okay for you and your WICKED to kidnap, torture, and test children in the cruelest ways possible to find a cure? its okay if it means countless lives are sacrificed to your precious cause? Its okay as long as it doesn't affect you? is that right Teressa?" he was in her face now and she shrank back into the table.

"No, I just,"

"You just nothing. its okay for you to torture the person who means the most to me in the world, its okay for you to try to turn him into a fucking crank! but if it means it's my life? all of a sudden you're having a fucking moral dilemma?" Thomas was breathing heavily, his entire body working to pull air into his lungs. "you don't get to have a moral dilemma you get to shut up and do your job because that all you've ever done. you turned us in, you gave Newt the Flare, you probably did that to get me help you, didn't you? you wanted me on your side. Well, guess what? I'm on his side. I will always be on his side."

"But,"

"But what, Teressa? did you think these last few weeks have changed anything? do you think they've changed me?"

"No, I just thought, you've been acting like you used to, before the maze, I thought, I did everything for you! everything! I thought maybe," Thomas could see the tears welling up in her eyes and he knew what she thought. he knew she thought things were getting better. he wanted to tell her how wrong she was. how he could never feel for her what she feels for him but Ava Paige chose that moment to walk through the doors.

Thomas backed away from Teressa, and she sunk back onto the stool she was sitting in earlier.

"Thomas?"

"Yeah, you have to see this," he said. "I think we have a cure."

"You've done excellent work Thomas," Ava said peering into the microscope in front of her. Thomas now sat in front of her desk in her main office. He was dizzy and weak and cold. Teressa was tasked with taking as much blood from him as was safe, 'they didn't want to lose their only lead' they'd said. "We've tested your cure on three different levels of the diseased, and every single one of them has reacted positively. All are still alive and all are amazingly healthy. Would you like to meet one of the people you've saved?" she said meeting his eyes. He just shrugged. He wanted to get the cure to newt. It had been two weeks since he'd discovered it and he needed to know Newt still had time.

"Follow me," she said, standing and walking out of the room without checking to see if Thomas was following her. She moved much too fast for his shaking knees but she stopped at each turn patiently waiting for him to catch up. Thomas wasn't too sure as to where they were going, these weren't halls he'd walked very much but he committed each turn they took to memory. They arrived at a door that Thomas had never been allowed through and his heart began to race thinking maybe he'd catch a peek at here his friends were being held.

"Can I see my friends?" he asked her, feeling like a small child asking permission from his mother. At least that's what he thought would be the equivalent to how he was feeling at this particular moment.

"Maybe, we'll see," she said not looking back at him before pushing through another set of doors.

"Two of them are sleeping, they were farther along and needed more time to rest, but you can meet Chloe, I believe you knew her older brother, he was in your maze," she said. Thomas stared at her as they approached the third door.

"Go on," she said opening the door for him and ushering him inside.

"Wait, who was her brother?" he said.

"Chuck." and the door closed behind him leaving him feeling like he'd just been hit by a truck. He turned to look at the room he was in and for a split second he thought it was all just an elaborate trick to get him back locked in a cage like an animal, or a crank. But as he took in the room he noticed it looked exactly like what he'd imagined a bedroom should look like, at least for a little girl. The walls were painted in some shade of pink and the bed had a matching comforter on it. Shelves covered every wall and on hem were more toys than Thomas had ever seen. And right there in the middle was a little girl, much younger than Thomas had thought she would have been.

"Hello," he said softly, the little girl turned and looked at him for a second before jumping up and running over to hug his leg. He stood there awkwardly for a second before patting her head. He could feel the lump forming in his throat and remembered when Chuck asked him about his family. Now he knew.

He spent most of the day in Chloe's room. He learned that she was 6 and that she had been very sick but she got better. He was relieved to know that she remembered everything about her life, what happened to her parents, what happened to her brother, at least what she'd heard happened to her brother and Thomas found himself angry that this little girl had to deal with so much loss. Too much. Ava had come back for him before Chloe got her dinner and he was taken back to his room and told to sleep, which he did only because the amount of blood that had been taken made him groggy.

The next day Thomas felt better, at least physically. Mentally he was trying to figure out how he was going to add a six-year-old to his escape plan which already had about as many holes as it did solid plans. He was on his way to Ava's office with about a million questions when he passed by an open door. An open door was odd enough in this place but an open door that used to be locked? And not only locked but had a guard posted outside of it? Curiosity was one of the things Thomas had to work on, he really did, but it could wait until later. He pushed the door open wider and peered in, the back wall of the room was covered in monitors, each of them split into four windows, all of them attached to the security system and Thomas just really couldn't believe his luck sometimes. He scanned the monitors looking for clues on how to get out, on where his friends are and stopped when he saw Minho.

He was in a room much like Thomas's and the one Newt had been in, only he was strung up similar to how he'd seen the kids at the WICKED compound who had been 'saved'. The only noticeable difference was his eyes and his mouth. There was no sound so Thomas couldn't be sure but it looked like Minho was screaming. Guilt washed over Thomas like the waves in a hurricane knocking his legs out from under him, he had to grab the chair in front of him to keep himself from hitting the floor. He'd bargained to end Newts pain, but the others hadn't even crossed his mind at the moment. Tears stung the corners of his eyes and he forced himself to look at the monitors again.

Frypan was passed out, asleep on a cot half the size of him. Aris was walking through the hallways in a section of the compound Thomas had never seen before. He assumed this was where his friends were being kept. His key card wouldn't open the doors between them and him. He saw Jansons office, talking to an alarming number of guards and Thomas wondered if that was why the room was empty.

A face Thomas wasn't expecting to see however was Gally, sitting in a chair, in a room that couldn't be any larger than a broom closet. the boy stared at the wall unmoving, and something felt unsettling about the way the boy didn't even seem to blink. Thomas remembered when he killed Chuck, the thought not helping the buckling of his knees. Gally hadn't had a choice, he was being controlled, what if they were still controlling him? Thomas shuddered and continued to scan the monitors, looking for one more familiar face.

Thomas found what he was looking for. Newt was dragging, literally, dragging himself across his floor. He couldn't believe how bad he'd gotten. Thomas watched as newt opened what looked like some kind of book and began frantically writing in it, from here he couldn't see what Newt was writing but at that moment he would have given anything to pick the boy up and just hold him until the shaking that Thomas could see in Newts shoulders stopped.

Thomas couldn't look at any of this anymore, he turned and fled the room heading for Ava's office again. He had to make sure Newt got the cure, now.

"Yes, Thomas?"

"We had a deal. Newt gets the cure now," he said, breathing heavily from practically running all the way here.

"Okay." Thomas wasn't sure what he expected, he definitely didn't expect her to agree so quickly.

"Okay," he repeated, unsure he trusted the word.

"First thing in the morning." she smiled, and the sight was so strange he looked away.

"Okay," he said again, out of things to say.

"We did have a deal, Thomas. We keep our word here. Will you?' she asked him. He could feel the accusations dripping off her words even if she didn't say them. He just nodded and left.

He had expected some sort of backstabbing and when he got back to his room he realized the form it would take. They weren't stabbing the knife in his back, they were placing the knife in his hands. A WICKED uniform hung on the back of his door with a note attached saying 'for tomorrow' no, Thomas was never the one getting stabbed, they were going to make Thomas stab Newt.

The realization hit him like a train. He sat on his floor, between the bed and his desk and stared at the uniform. He wasn't going to wear it. That was never part of the deal. He could tell them to shove it up their ass and give Newt the cure anyway. But he knew. He knew that this wasn't just for tomorrow. This was them making sure he would hold up his end of the bargain. This was him becoming an official employee of WICKED, and Thomas knew that whatever he thought tonight, come tomorrow morning he'd be standing outside of newts room wearing the WICKED logo. Because of course, he would, he'd do anything to keep newt safe.

Do you understand now why I did everything I did? A sob broke deep in his throat.

Yes.

And now you're going to do it too, for him?

Yes. thomas was shaking.

Because you love him. Thomas screamed to drown out her voice, to drown out the horrible truth of it all.

"Whats this?" he asked her holding out a piece of paper. On the paper, the same word was written over and over and over. WICKED WICKED WICKED. It wasn't just one page either. Dozens of them were scattered across her floor. She didn't say anything

"Lydia! What does this mean." she turned to face him finally.

"I think they have Stiles."


	6. Tommy, Thomas, Tom

_Tommy, the green bean who changed our lives_

 _Tommy, the shank who got us out of the maze_

 _Tommy, the idiot who lead us through the scorch_

 _Tommy, with brown eyes. With brown hair._

Newt spent his days sleeping. Sleeping and writing. He couldn't remember hardly anything anymore. He was determined writing down every thought that crossed his mind. He was scared, scared and dying.

 _Tommy who let me get taken_

 _Tommy who watched me get taken_

 _Tommy who knew where I was and didn't save me_

 _Thomas, no, Tommy._

Newt was determined to hold onto this al lease this. If he didn't then what would he have left? Nothing. Nothing mattered if he forgot. And he was so close to forgetting.

 _Only I call him Tommy. Only I can call him Tommy._

 _Why do I call him Tommy? Why not Thomas? Or tom?_

 _Because She calls him tom. She calls him tom?_

 _Why can she call him tom? Why was she there?_

 _She's evil! I hate her. Tommy loves her._

 _Because she calls him tom?_

 _Wha if he's out there looking for her?_

 _Tommy Tommy Tommy, please come find me._

 _Why would you ever care for her when you know i-_

It would be easier to forget. To let the flare have his memories. To fight back hurts more than he ever thought it could. He sometimes wants to forget. He sometimes feels like he needs to forget because sometimes the pain gets to be too much. He'd give anything to see Tommy again.

 _I'm scared Tommy..._

"Newt." the voice was so achingly familiar, Newt looked up and all of a sudden every beautiful thing he'd forgotten about this boy flooded through his mind because _he_ stood in his doorway. _Tommy_ was here! He wanted to celebrate, to run over to the boy and throw his arms around his neck but something stopped him, something more than how heavy his legs were. Something was very very off. The other boy looked tired, not just in a lack of sleep kind of way, he looked like he was carrying the world in his hands. But he also looked clean. His clothes were in perfect shape and it looked like he'd even gotten a haircut recently. Newt stood up slowly, using the wall for support as his knees tried to buckle under his weight, and noticed something else. Something so insanely wrong. Something that took his breath away. On his arm, the word WICKED was written out. Tommy, his Tommy, his mind practically screamed the name he'd been trying to remember since he woke up, was wearing a WICKED uniform, and he was carrying a syringe, and just like that every beautiful thing he had left to hold onto, every beautiful thing hed just had within his grasp, burned to ashes left obscuring his vision. Newt didn't realize the other boy had been walking closer this whole time until he leaned closer, reaching out to him. Newt recoiled so violently he stumbled back into the wall.

"Newt please, let me explain." there was a part of Newt that heard the unshed tears in his voice. There was a part of him that wanted to go to him and wrap the broken boy in his arms and tell him it was okay and it would all be okay and he was okay but nothing was okay. Newt couldn't look at him.

"I don't want.. i don't care. Just get out." Newt didn't trust his voice at louder than a whisper. It didn't even sound like his voice anymore, it came out cracked and ragged. He stared at the ground between them and thought about every time he offered himself up to be tortured if it would keep his Tommy safe. Every time he told Janson to shove his deals up his arse. Every time he made himself bleed to keep him more human, and all for a boy who was working with them. Realization hit him, this wasn't his Tommy anymore. For all newt cared, his Tommy was dead.

"Newt I'm trying to save you." the words came out choked and Newt knew he was crying, he knew if he looked up he would see those beautiful brown eyes flooded with tears. He knew it better than he'd known anything in a long time.

"I don't need you to save me," he said softly. It took everything he had not to scream and cry and beg for that explanation, to beg Tommy to tell him it wasn't true. It took, even more, to keep the monster in him at bay. Crushing sorrow fought with the rage.

"I'm sorry." Tommy, no it wasn't Tommy anymore, Thomas(?) said and before Newt could gather what was going on, two guards came through the door and grabbed him by the arms dragging him back into the shuck chair. Fear joined the other emotions waging war in his head and he screamed. He wasn't doing this anymore, he wasn't going to be tortured for no reason anymore, Newt fought harder than he had since he'd been taken. He could feel the flare working in him, he could feel it wanting to rip these people apart and for the first time since he was infected, he let go. He let himself turn into the monster he's been fighting for so shucking long. He kicked and screamed, he managed to sink his teeth into one of the guards who then started to curse. The coppery taste of blood filled his mouth, the guard pulled away.

Newt caught sight of the boy who used to be his Tommy. They locked eyes and newt could see, even though the flare he could see the devastation, Newt smiled, letting the blood drip from his mouth. Thomas looked away, and Newt laughed in triumph. More guards were sent in. thomas was just standing there crying.

"I hate you," newt screamed at him, laughing when he could see the pain from his words flash across Thomas's face. "I bloody hate you," he yelled again. His arms were secured and the guards were working on his legs but he still screamed and tried to pull away from the bindings. "I wish you'd never shown up in the maze. Everything was fine before you! You killed my friends! You killed them all." Newt saw Thomas's hands trembling, his eyes downcast as he took everything Newt was saying. Good. he thought.

Newt was now secure in his chair and Thomas started to walk over to him. He forced Newts sleeve up his arm and held the needle to his skin. Newt tried to pull away from Thomas's touch, but even in Newts state, he could see the fear in the boys face he could see the trembling hands. And that part of him that wanted to know why came back to the surface forcing the animal inside him back in its cage. He wanted to tell Tommy it was okay, that he didn't mean anything he said but before he could say anything someone touched Thomas's hand. Somebody was holding Tommy's hand. Rage filled him again when he looked to see who.

"Its okay Thomas, I can do it." Teresa stood above them both and pulled the syringe out of Thomas's hand. Newt screamed again at seeing the two of them how obviously comforted Thomas was when she laid her hand on his shoulder. Thomas scooted away from them and Newt was left glaring at Teresa.

"This might sting but it'll help you," she said in the same voice she'd used the first time she'd injected him with something. The needle slid into his black veined skin and the familiar feeling of his veins on fire caused him to scream.

Thomas was in front of him again. He was saying something but he couldn't hear. He didn't want to hear. Everything about Thomas made him hurt even more than the acid in his veins. Couldn't they see he was dying!

"Tommy!" he coughed.

"Newt." he hated how hopeful the boy sounded, how he could hear even though the sounds of his own heavy breathing and the blood rushing in his ears, he could still hear the pain in that stupid shucking voice.

"If you've ever, ever been my friend. Blood kill me!" he spat blood and black goo right into that hopefull looking face. "kill me." and maybe somebody listened because all at once the pain stopped. his vision blurred, the last thing he remembered seeing was the look on Thomas's face. Horrified and scared, he looked like Newt felt, as the inky black folded over him, cutting him off from golden brown eyes. cutting him off from everything.


	7. Stay

He'd been prepared for Newt to be angry, he was even prepared to hear Newt tell him he hated him. Didn't make it hurt any less but he'd come into this room knowing all too well he was probably going to lose Newts friendship. What Thomas wasn't prepared for was the pleading for death. He couldn't imagine a world without Newt in it, that's why he'd gone through all this in the first place, to keep Newt alive, to keep him breathing. To keep Newt, well, Newt.

Thomas was left staring at the utterly broken boy slumped in the chair. The same chair he was forced into when Teresa turned him into a crank.

 _Thomas. We have to go to the lab._ Unfiltered rage bubbled up inside him, he looked at her from where he was sitting in the middle of the floor. He was sure he looked awful. He was sure he looked downright pathetic.

"Get out of my head," he said remarkably calm, considering he was having to squeeze his hands into fists to keep them from shaking. He stayed on the floor because he knew he couldn't trust his body to move without taking his anger out on her.

"Thomas I understand this was hard. You know I get it but we really do have to go." Thomas looked around the room, everyone was gone, he didn't remember them leaving. But they left newt here, slumped in the chair. Tied by wrists with paper-thin skin. The ropes were too tight, he had to fix it.

"You say you do all of this for me? I think that's bullshit." she flinched at his words but it satisfied some of his anger. He pushed himself closer to newt, trying not to look at the boy's face, instead focusing on the ropes and untying them.

"Thomas you know why I did this."

"I'm in more pain now than I've ever been, Teresa. So you can stop your little act. You're doing this for a cure and nothing else. You don't care about me or the glades. You only care about saving the world." he paused as he moved onto the next knot. "Which is noble and all but at some point, you have to look at all the damage you've caused. Because the people you save, they have to live with the world that's left, and how do you think they'd react if the only way to get their precious cure was through torturing and murdering kids, Teresa? Do you think they'll be grateful?" with shaking hands he moved onto Newts wrists.

"The ends justify the means, we're saving humanity."

"No. humanity is knowing you protect children. humanity is knowing not to commit genocide. Humanity is the doctor with the right arm that you murdered." he was talking through gritted teeth trying to focus more on the knots than on his words.

"I didn't murder her," Teresa said, and he could imagine her crossing her arms. Her bottom lip probably stuck out a little. He remembered her, bits and pieces of her from before they took his memories and they were close. They were always so close, Thomas mourned for his memories of them. He wished he could go back to that younger version of himself. But to do that would mean to help build the maze, again. Would mean to watch his friends die on a computer screen. He couldn't do any of that again. He finished the last knot and scooped Newt up way too easily. He stood there holding the broken boy in his arms.

"Yeah, yeah you did." he turned to look at her, with Newts weight in his arms he knew he wouldn't do anything stupid. "You called them. You turned us all in. you murdered them all." he walked Newt over to the thin mattress and covered him up with a thin sheet.

 _I was trying to save the world._ Thomas stiffened and brushed Newts hair out of his face.

"Get. Out. Of. My. Head." he said slowly punctuating each word.

"I'm sorry," she said softly, and he felt like she was. And he felt like given enough time he could probably come to forgive her. But time wasn't something he had much of anymore. Thomas closed his eyes and forced himself to breathe. He stood, letting his hand fall out of Newts hair and walked out of the room, brushing past Teresa and feeling the bits of his heartbreak all over again.

"Thomas wait," she said coming up behind him. "Here." he looked down at the book she held between them. He recognized it as the one Newt was writing in. Curiosity overcame him, pushing every other emotion down. He took it as if it were a bomb ready to go off. He stared at it for a long time. Teressa stared at him the whole time and he tried to pretend it didn't bother him.

"You should read it," she said knowingly. He looked up at her.

"Did you?" he asked.

"No, not all of it." not all of it. She read the words newt was writing. She opened this book that she had no business touching. "It's about you," she said before walking away towards the lab. Thomas stood there for a long time before making his way to the lab.

The only thing they needed Thomas for was more blood. Which they took, and took until Thomas was shocked he even had any more left to give. When finally they announced that they were done he was sent to his room like a disobedient child. Nobody looked at him twice and he figured this was just how it was going to be from now on. He'd fulfilled his job, he came up with the cure. The only reason he wasn't dead yet was because now he was needed as a living blood bank.

 _Thomas_ the voice was quiet in his head but it still sent him reeling, using the wall to keep himself standing upright. _I know you don't want to hear this but you need to trust me._ You need to trust me. He'd heard those words from her before. Every time she'd said them things followed driving the stake between her and his trust even farther. His knees buckled and he slid down the wall. His room was only a few feet away, visible even through the black spots in his vision. _They're doing this to help you._ Doing what? He wanted to ask her but he didn't have the strength. I _t's okay Thomas. Tomorrow everything is going to get better._ Her voice was getting lighter and he was having trouble making out what she was saying but the weight of them felt like cement in his gut. _You won't remember anyway._ He caught the last of what she was trying to say before she faded from his head completely. Won't remember? His eyes snapped open, making him wonder when he'd closed them in the first place. Tomorrow he won't remember. They were going to take his memories again. They were going to brainwash him into doing their bidding. His fist tightened around something he had forgotten he was holding and with every bit of strength he had left he pushed himself up walked the last few feet to his room.

He stumbled into the chair at his desk and opened the book. He didn't read the words but he flipped through them until he found a clean page and picked up his pencil.

 _Your name is Thomas._

 _You were taken by an organization called WICKED_

 _THEY ARE NOT GOOD._

 _They have the ability to erase your memories. They can alter them even but this, the words in this book is real._

 _There's a boy in this place somewhere that you saved. His name is Newt. and you love him. He calls you Tommy._

 _Their others. Minho, Frypan, Gally, a little girl named Chloe. They can't stay here, none of them. You are the cure. I don't know if they'll tell you that part._

 _But listen it doesn't matter all that matters is what they do to people. To your friends._

 _They put the flare in newt made him a crank, they tortured him for weeks before that._

 _We're just kids._

 _No one deserves any of this, except maybe us._

 _You and me. We created these trials. We worked for wicked. But we got out until they caught up with us._

 _We've lost so much to beat them. Please trust these words._

 _You can't stay in wicked. Find the Gladers._

 _And get the fuck out._

Thomas sucked in a ragged breath and shoved the book in his desk, under his old one. There was nothing left he could do. He tucked his chair in and curled up in his bed feeling every bit like a terrified little kid because wasn't that all he was? A kid who was forced into all of this. Silent tears soaked his pillow and he hugged his knees to his chest. It wasn't long before sleep came, he barely had the strength to keep his eyes open. When he did fall asleep He dreamt of Chuck and Alby, of all the people he'd lost trying to get them out only to lead them into something far worse. He dreamt of Newt, smiling and happy. He dreamt of what would have happened if they had all just stayed in the glade.

An alarm sounded so loud Thomas sat straight up in bed clamping his hands over his ears. He kicked his blankets off his feet and ran to his door, yanking it open. The hallway was dark save flashing red lights every dozen feet or so blinking in time with the alarm.

"Hey what's happening?" he asked, having to yell over the sound of the alarm, at the two guards running down the hallway.

"Stay in your room" one of them called over his shoulder before disappearing around a corner.

"Yeah, like hell," he said back, the noise drowning out his voice, he started to run the opposite direction as the guards had disappeared to. His feet carried him where he needed to be without much thought. He found the door he was looking for, the one that separated him from his friends, the one his key card wouldn't work on. Luck was with him for once in his shuck life though when a guard slammed the door open, almost knocking Thomas down.

"What are you doing here?" the guard asked, not moving from the doorway.

"I was sent to check for A7." he shouted over the noise.

"You don't have clearance."

"Do you want to tell Ava Paige that?" he asked trying to put all the authority he could into the words. The guard hesitated before stepping aside letting Thomas through. "That's what I thought, now stop focusing on the people that actually work here and go handle the threat." Thomas yelled at the man who actually looked ashamed.

"Sorry sir." the man turned and ran down the hallway.

Thomas toed off his shoe and stuck it in the door to keep it open praying for the first time in his life no one would be coming through this way. He ran through the now unfamiliar hallways hoping he'd be able to find his way to his friends.

Up ahead he saw a familiar figure running through the hallway ahead of him, whoever it was disappeared as fast as they appeared and Thomas forced his legs to move faster, hope invading his head for the first time in awhile, he rounding the corner the figure disappeared into. Minho was just a few feet in front of him and Thomas could have easily caught up to him if he hadn't stopped in shock.

"Hey! Minho!" Thomas yelled, forcing himself to move again. The boy in front of him stopped and turned towards Thomas, he looked about as surprised as Thomas felt but he didn't move and Thomas closed the distance between them in seconds.

"What are you doing here? This isn't usually how it goes?"

"What are you talking about man, we gotta get out of here," Thomas said, breathing heavily, the adrenaline that's been fueling him was wearing off faster then he'd like and his major lack of blood was not exactly helping either.

"No, you don't get it shank, you're not real, this isn't real. I've run these hallways over and over again, ran them until they turned into the maze, ran that until it turned into the scorch and ran through that until a couple of cranks caught up to me, this never ends, it's not real." Thomas didn't understand but could only guess he'd been given some kind of hallucinogen

"No, Minho, listen, This is real, we gotta go, I can help you. listen if you just come with me we can find the others, you can all get out." Thomas said, half turning ready to run again.

"What is that shuck thing on your arm?" the blood drained from Thomas's face.

"Listen, just, trust me okay? I can get you out." Thomas could see the war waging in Minho's head.

"Are you a part of WICKED? Now I know this isn't real." Minho turned and started to run.

"I did it to save Newt," he screamed at the retreating shape of Minho's back at the same time as the alarm shut off throwing the hallway into ear-ringing silence.

"What the shuck did you do?" Minho said

"I didn't have a choice Minho! They were killing him!"

"What the shuck did you do slinthead?" Minho said again turning and walking right up to Thomas.

"I helped them. I'm with them but listen I'm getting you, all of you, out of here. I can keep them busy for awhile while you get away."

"I've died over and over again. I've been dissected alive by grievers, eaten alive by cranks, I've been beaten, shot, hell I've died every way I can possibly think only to wake up whole and do it again. I felt that! I wish they'd have killed me for good and you're telling me you're helping them?" Thomas knew guilt. He lived with guilt as long as he could remember, but nothing touched what he felt when he realized how bad everyone else had it.

"Let me get you out of here. You never have to see me again but in order to pull this off, i need your help. Please, Minho." he couldn't meet The other boy's eyes but he could feel the shift.

"Fine. where we going?"

"They have Fry, Newt, Chloe, and Gally."

"Hold up slinthead, Gally is dead, I killed him, and who the shank is Chloe?"

"Chuck's baby sister. If we leave her here they going to put her into a maze, do everything to her that they've done to us." Thomas hesitated. "You didn't hit Gally's heart, he's still alive but WICKED is controlling him."

"Well, then we're sure as shit not bringing him with us. Where's fry?"

"Across from your room." Thomas tried to remember what he saw in the surveillance room. "I think."

"You think. Great. Let's go." Minho took off not looking back to see if Thomas was with him.

Frypan wasn't anywhere on this side of the building and finally, Minho seemed to have given up.

"I'm telling you none of this is real."

"No Minho listen to me go get Chloe I'll look for Fry on my way to get Newt. Meet me back right here do you understand?"

Minho looked skeptical, he still wasn't ready to trust Thomas but he didn't have many choices. He stood and ran in the direction he told him to go leaving Thomas to get Newt.

Thomas ran back through the door where his shoe still held the door open and continued through the hallways, getting to Newts room easily. The door was cracked open and fear took over his mind. He pushed the door open and breathed out a sigh of relief seeing Newt exactly where he'd left him. He walked across the room and slipped his arms under the frail boy's neck and legs. Picking him up easily.

"Tommy." the boy murmured

"Shh, you're going to be alright, I got you Newt," Thomas whispered.

"Where do you think you're going?" Thomas gripped newt tighter feeling the gun pressed into the back of his head.

"Teresa. Please, I can't let them stay here," he whispered.

"Don't you understand yet Thomas. There's nowhere for any of you to go. This is all that's left."

"I don't believe that," he said looking down at newt. "There's somewhere better for them." he said.

"And you? Do you think WICKED's just going to let you walk through the doors? You're their only hope, you're our only hope."

"Yeah, I know."

"Tommy." Newt whimpered in his arms.

"So you're going to condemn the rest of humanity to die for a handful of teenagers?" she pushed the gun harder into his head.

"And you're going to shoot humanity's last hope in the back of the head?" the gun lightened up and Thomas took the opportunity to turn and face her. "I'm not going anywhere. But WICKED doesn't need them. They've served their purpose and now all they need is me. Help me get them out of here." he pleaded gripping newt as close as he could hating the fact that Newt was in between him and a gun.

"You'll stay?" she asked

"Yes. If I can get them out."

"Fine." she dropped the gun.

"Where is fry?" he asked softly

"Gone. we can't find him anywhere."

"He already got out?"

"Yeah" they stood there for the length of a heartbeat staring at each other. Thomas didn't want to make the first move with the gun still in Teresa's hand and she was still torn. She tucked the gun away regardless and headed out the door. Thomas released a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding, and followed her.

"I'm getting you out of here Newt," he said more to himself than anyone else.

They made it through the halls without seeing a single guard. They made it all the way to where Minho sat with Chloe in his lap.

"What the shuck is she doing here?" Minho yelled setting Chloe down gently before launching himself at the girl and wrapping his hands around her throat.

"Minho hey. Hold on wait!" Thomas laid Newt down gently careful not to wake him before turning to try and pull Minho off of her.

"Where's Frypan Thomas? You said you'd get him.

"He's gone, he's already out of here." Thomas said, "let her go she's going to help you guys get out."

"I don't want her help she turned us in!"

"Don't you think I know that?!" Thomas yelled causing Minho to loosen his grip and look at him "I know what she did. I know more than you do. But right now she's your ticket out of here. So stop trying to kill her and let's go." Minho let go of her and turned to look at Newt.

"What happened to him?" Minho asked.

"He's healing," Thomas answered, picking him up. Teresa scooped up Chloe and Thomas tried to act like it didn't bother him. They made it all the way to the other side of the building without being spotted. Thomas carried newt the entire way, ignoring Minho when he offered to help. Minho would have his hands full soon enough.

Ahead of them a door with the word exit glowing red above it burst open, men dressed head to toe in black filed in, the word SWAT written in white on their backs. Thomas and the rest of the Gladers stopped short as the men ran straight at them.

"Who the shuck are they?" Minho asked.

"Not WICKED," Teresa answered.

"We found more." one of the men closest to them said into a radio on his shoulder.

"Follow us, we're here to take you home." a second man said nobody moved. Thomas's head was spinning.

"Let me take him." a third said, holding his arms out to Thomas, who took a step back and shook his head. His aching arms protested but Thomas wasn't letting Newt anywhere with these people. "Alright let's go we don't have much time," he said ushering them through the hall, the exit sign getting closer. Thomas watched Minho run through the door, the blinding light swallowing his shape.

"Thomas!" Thomas stopped short of stepping through the door. "You said you'd stay." she said and Thomas didn't look, just stood there ignoring the man yelling in his ear to hurry up and go.

"Thomas!" that wasn't Teresa. He wasn't prepared for the spray of blood to hit his face when the man next to him was shot in the head. He could hear Chloe's scream. He could hear Newt saying his name. He could feel a pain shooting through his leg as he fell hard to his knees.

"No." And then he watched Teresa turn away from him, watched her shoot Janson. Saw Chloe in her arms covering her ears and crying. He had to get them out. But someone was grabbing him someone was pushing him through the door. His legs didn't work. The door slammed closed.

"Tommy." he looked down. Still grasping onto newt who was looking right at him, who was clear of black veins. Who was being pulled out of his arms?

"No." he yelled, grabbing at Newts arms trying to get him back but he was being dragged away. Thomas forced himself to stand, he dragged his left leg behind him and tried to get to newt who was being put in the back of a car, no, a van, somewhere in the back of Thomases mind the word ambulance bounced around. "No, Newt." he cried.

"Wait." someone was holding him back. He could see people over Newt.

"They're going to take care of him its okay, can you tell me your name, can you tell me what's going on in that place?" the man asked. All Thomas could see was Newt.

"Move out of my way."

"I can't do that, your friend is getting the medical help he needs. I see your leg's bleeding, we need to patch that up.

"Get out of my way," he screamed punching the man square in the nose and pushing past him. Something tackled him to the ground. His head slamming into the concrete had his vision swimming.

"We have to treat your injuries and get your statement. You kids are safe now." Thomas wasn't listening, his eyelids were too heavy. He could hear commotion somewhere close by.

"That's my son! That's my son! Let me through, Stiles! That's my boy." Thomas heard the voice as he faded out of consciousness.

Lydia sat in the back of a classroom that she wasn't supposed to be in. her eyes starred unlinking In front of her while her fingers worked on the page where she wrote 'Not Stiles' over and over again.


	8. Echoed

Newt knew what a gunshot sounded like. It sounded like Chuck begging thomas to take his figurine. It sounded like Winston begging for the gun. It was a hollow sound and it echoed and echoed. Echoed in the desert when they lost another glader. Echoed in Newts ears and head. It sounded like a heartbeat that Newt could feel thumping heavily. It sounded like blood splattering thomas's face.

"Tommy?!" Newt opened his eyes, he was floating? Hovering? He was being held. He could feel the shaking arms that held him tight enough to bruise. He was looking up at Thomas who was looking behind them.

"Thomas?" Newt said again staring up at the face he knew, even covered in blood _he knew._ Because he remembered. He could remember that look that was on thomas's face. The same look when he ran into the maze the first time. The same face he had when he lead them all into the scorch. The same face he wore when he came back with a bomb ready to kill himself, and everyone else if it meant WICKED couldn't have them.

"Tommy!" Newt shouted the same time another gunshot went off and he could feel the shift in Thomas. They were falling into the bright lights and he braced himself for the impact but it never came. Something, or someone caught him. Another set of hands were grabbing him and lifting him up and away from Thomas. When he opened his eyes he could see the other boy reaching for him blindly grabbing him by the hand and Newt held on to him too. Until neither of them could anymore and their hands slipped away from each other.

"No, Newt." he could hear Thomas cry as he was forced away.

It felt like he was being carried out of the maze again. Like he failed again and someone else had to carry him away from his own mess. He hated it. With everything he had left he shoved. He wasn't going to fail again. He hit the ground hard but managed to get his feet back under him.

"Oh shit, I'm sorry. Are you okay? You looked like you were unconscious." the man that was previously carrying him said, moving to help him stand.

"Fine. I need to see tommy" he said, trying to push past the man. Thomas was standing but only barely. His leg was bleeding and his entire body was visibly shaking and still he was trying to push past the person in front of him.

"Well just let us get you checked out first." the man in front of Newt said gently, stepping closer to him, ushering him to what? He glanced behind him and saw some kind of vehicle with an entire medical set up inside it. He looked back around and saw two more men and a woman had joined the first guy and it was like that were herding him.

"Then I can see Tommy?" he asked wearily. He had no idea where he was or who these people were but he wasn't about to trust anything until he could talk to his friends.

"Of course." the first guy said, and lead Newt to the vehicle.

"That's my son! Thats me son! Let me through, Stiles! That's my boy." Newt watched an older man rushing through the crowd just as thomas was shoved down, Newt could almost hear the impact his head made with the concrete. Before he could move the man had reached thomas and was flipping him over, barking orders at people. Newt watched with fear and confusion completely ignoring the questions he was being asked. He felt like he should run to protect thomas like he always had because that's what they do, they protect each other. But something about this man didn't seem at all threatening. He was openly sobbing over the boy and Newt felt a pang in his heart. The man had called him son. Could that be possible. Could it be possible that any of them had families that survived the scorch?

"Hello there" said a woman headed his direction, speaking gently as if he was a rabid dog ready to bite her. "I'm here to help you get back home. Can you tell me your name? Anything about yourself that could help us to help you?" Newts head hurt. Nothing seemed to make any sense. There wasn't supposed to be this many people left. The worlds was dying that's why WICKED tortured them. How could the world seem so intact?

"Im Newt." he said thickly. He wasn't sure he trusted any of this yet. Couldnt it be some sort of trick WICKED is pulling on them? They've done the whole fake rescue thing before. He remembered Janson calling names one at a time to be taken somewhere better. But better never came. Not for any of WICKED's subjects.

"We're going to take you to your friends now Newt." he could hear her words but his head was spinning with images. He could see Tommy standing in his doorway in the white room, he could see tommys hands shake. He could see Thomas holding the bomb, holding back tears. He could see his fear behind the bravado before he almost hit the button.

It was more than all that though. Newt was remembering more than the scorch. More then the maze. He was remembering more than the memories that the flare disintegrated and he never imagined how bad remembering could hurt. He could hear voices around him but he couldn't make out what they were saying. His hands were clutching at his head. He was on the ground, how had he ended up on the ground?

Newt watched The man carrying thomas. The man who could very likely be Thomas's dad. He could see the way Thomas's entire body was limp in the older mans arms and Newt couldn't breathe. His vision blurred and he couldn't tell if it was because of the tears or the onslaught of memories, he could see thomas laying in a bed next to him across the room. He could see him, he was crying. Thomas was crying. He remembered them laying in newts tiny bed waiting for morning when everything would change. They didn't sleep. Thomas cried and Newt told him it was okay. What were they waiting for. Newt squeezed his eyes shut, His head felt like it was being split in two.

He wasn't on the ground anymore. He was in the backseat of a car. He turned to look out of the back, thomas still on the ground, why haven't they picked him up yet, why weren't they taking care of him? He watched out the window until thomas disappeared, until everything disappeared and he was left with memories that he shouldn't have.


End file.
